Our personal goldfish bowl is our psyche, full of our personal perceptions, understandings and misunderstandings.
Are we each swimming in circles in our goldfish bowls, bored and waiting for our next feeding, unable to swim out into the sea of knowledge?
Plato wrote about each person being chained inside a cave, watching a parade of false images of reality until we make the effort to break out.
Critical thinking gives us the tools we need to escape this ignorance as we struggle to develop our own understandings and imagination.
This is the most wonderful, most enlightening game we could possibly play -- learning for ourselves what is real, learning to imagine better realities, and then being able to pass our wisdom on to others, helping them out of their goldfish bowls.
Welcome to the magical, empowering, exhilarating world of Critical Thinking! Remember, you can use this page whether you're enrolled in any of my courses or not. You're welcome to stay in touch with me at llinfiel@craftonhills.edu
From www.visionalignmentproject.com: A Vision for Free Energy We envision ourselves living in a world where there is free energy for all, forever; where the sources of power we use to light and heat our homes, fuel our cars, run our appliances and machines, cook our foods, manufacture our goods and products, and so forth are non-proprietary; where all of the inventions that have purposely been withheld and hidden from us by those who would profit from our labors are revealed and made operational now; and where all of our energy systems are clean, non-polluting, and 100% sustainable. In this world, our power sources are shared equally by all, for indeed, how does one pay the Sun back for the light we receive? How does one own the winds, the waters, the geothermal reservoirs? In a world where we truly care for one another, there are no charges, no exchanges of money; just thanks given for the gifts we receive from that which was already free in the first place.
Did you know that half a million people were evacuated from Manhattan on 9/11 by a spontaneous community effort, not by the government? Check out this video from Tom Hanks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg
Do you work out to relieve stress? Read the following!
Don't be stressed when you begin a workout - you can be badly hurt. See this article:
The Truth about Violence This applies to war as well as to domestic violence. "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy."Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it."Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth."Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate."In fact, violence merely increases hate."Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Prominent White Reporter on Genocide Against Native Americans: Watch Soon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQc6xQmLRI
Are conspiracy theories valid?
See this analysis by University of South Florida Public Policy Professor Lance deHaven-Smith: http://dehaven-smith.com/faq/default.html
Employment information: What is it like to work for the CIA if you have a conscience? 4 1/2min video, and be sure to read the "Show More" info at the bottom of the description https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYJQ-uWK-hE
Government surveillance? What did a brave young man learn about it?
36 minute TED talk by Edward Snowden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwAodrjZMY
"We cannot throw away all of our rights... because we are afraid of rare instances of criminal activity." --Edward Snowden
Have you long thought that the schooling you had before college was far from what it should have been?
How Schools Set Kids Up to Fail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWBoA3Hpn8A "Children know that schooling is not fair, not honest, not driven by integrity. They know they are devalued in classes and grades, that the institution is indifferent to them as individuals. The rhetoric of caring contradicts what school procedure and content say, that many children have no tolerable future and most have a sharply proscribed one. The problem is structural. School has been built to serve a society of associations: corporations, institutions, and agencies. Kids know this instinctively. How should they feel about it? How should we?"
Few people are aware of the unsavory history of the AMA and its Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This influential organization and its leaders became wealthy and powerful in the first half of the 20th century through selectively granting a seal of approval for untested drugs only to companies who would pay hefty fees to the AMA, and through major income from the tobacco industry for //JAMA//'s promotions of cigarette smoking and its false claims about cigarette safety. For a brief essay describing these corrupt practices and more, click here.
Try the below for learning the realities behind what is reported in mass media. Note that the instructor does not endorse any of the below as being fully true and accurate -- you must make up your own mind.
http:www.activistpost.com (general news; under its Resources tab, includes valuable sources of alternative news) http://www.wanttoknow.info (amazing comprehensive website providing verifiable truth behind coverups as well as stress reduction resources and tactics for righting the wrongs) http://www.RT.com Russia TV; comprehensive news channel from Russian perspective; has New York bureau covering US news
http:www.sott.net ("SOTT" stands for Signs of the Times) - general. "Revealing the global trends that the mainstream media won't touch." http://www.veteranstoday.com (selected by and for former military personnel) http://www.informationclearinghouse.info (general, "for global justice," daily updates) http://theantimedia,org (general, continuous exposes of current coerups) http://consortiumnews.org (general, from professional journalists) http://www.counterpunch.org (general, compilation, features Noam Chomsky) http://www.globalresearch.ca (general, comprehensive Canadian source, in-depth commentary on issues that are distorted by mass media)
htttp:www.ajplus.net (paste into browser if won't click through):
"AJ+ is a global news community for the connected generation. We highlight human struggles and achievements, empower impassioned voices, and challenge the status quo." http://www.truthdig.org (general, compilation) http://www.brasschecktv.com (videos; sign up for their email list to receive 1-2 relevant videos a week) http://www.truthbarrier.com (medical specialty) http://www.commondreams.org (general, partly reliable; compilation from various sources) Compilations by individual journalists: http://www.gregpalast.com (general ongoing stories by veteran investigative reporter) http://www.unz.com (general, compilation) http://www.russbaker.com (general; Bush family expose) http://www.jonwiener.com (general) http://www.sharylattkisson.com (conservative, general; vaccines) http://www.resilience.org (general; from the Post-Carbon Institute) http://www.tomdispatch.com (general) --Russia Today (RT) on some cable TV sources and on the web: - streaming video. Has New York studio.
A type of employment in America to avoid:
From "The Good Lie" with Reese Witherspoon -
A young American woman introduces the "boss system" to a young man from the Sudan:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=MZoGjAtCIAI "Let me explain something to you. In America, we have this thing called bosses, and they have too much power for their teeny tiny brains, but you have to put up with it, because you need money to live and to eat and to go to school."
Can you get a job at a company without bosses? Check this out:
Each of us lives inside a container, not unlike a goldfish bowl.
IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM PRINCE EA:
https://www.facebook.com/PrinceEa/videos?pnref=story.unseen-section
Our personal goldfish bowl is our psyche, full of our personal perceptions, understandings and misunderstandings.
Are we each swimming in circles in our goldfish bowls, bored and waiting for our next feeding, unable to swim out into the sea of knowledge?
Plato wrote about each person being chained inside a cave, watching a parade of false images of reality until we make the effort to break out.
Critical thinking gives us the tools we need to escape this ignorance as we struggle to develop our own understandings and imagination.
This is the most wonderful, most enlightening game we could possibly play -- learning for ourselves what is real, learning to imagine better realities, and then being able to pass our wisdom on to others, helping them out of their goldfish bowls.
Welcome to the magical, empowering, exhilarating world of Critical Thinking! Remember, you can use this page whether you're enrolled in any of my courses or not. You're welcome to stay in touch with me at llinfiel@craftonhills.edu
From www.visionalignmentproject.com:
A Vision for Free Energy
We envision ourselves living in a world where there is free energy for all, forever; where the sources of power we use to light and heat our homes, fuel our cars, run our appliances and machines, cook our foods, manufacture our goods and products, and so forth are non-proprietary; where all of the inventions that have purposely been withheld and hidden from us by those who would profit from our labors are revealed and made operational now; and where all of our energy systems are clean, non-polluting, and 100% sustainable.
In this world, our power sources are shared equally by all, for indeed, how does one pay the Sun back for the light we receive? How does one own the winds, the waters, the geothermal reservoirs? In a world where we truly care for one another, there are no charges, no exchanges of money; just thanks given for the gifts we receive from that which was already free in the first place.
Did you know that half a million people were evacuated from Manhattan on 9/11 by a spontaneous community effort, not by the government? Check out this video from Tom Hanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg
Do you work out to relieve stress? Read the following!
Don't be stressed when you begin a workout - you can be badly hurt. See this article:http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/11/07/10-ways-stress-affects-workouts.aspx?e_cid=20141107Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20141107Z1&et_cid=DM59456&et_rid=720602981
1995 Documentary from Walt Disney Demonstrates Existence of UFOs and Aliens
Documentary was screened in a few areas and then withdrawn without explanation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHunekX1xPw&feature=youtu.be
Seven Tools for Critical Thinking from Professor Daniel Dennett
http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/philosopher_daniel_dennett_presents_seven_tools_for_critical_thinking.html
Videos by Prince Ea
Everybody Dies, but Not Everybody Lives: 5:50https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja-n5qUNRi8
Man vs. Earth 5.27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrzbRZn5Ed4
I am NOT black, you are NOT white 4.35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0qD2K2RWkc
Working to Live or Living to Work? 3.24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNRldP18bH8
Dear Future Generations: Sorry 6.02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLJscAlk1M
Can We Auto-Correct Humanity? 3.27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ
Why I Think This World Should End 4.13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itvnQ2QB4yc
The Truth about Violence
This applies to war as well as to domestic violence.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy."Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it."Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth."Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate."In fact, violence merely increases hate."Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Prominent White Reporter on Genocide Against Native Americans: Watch Soon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQc6xQmLRI
Does war have a future? Maybe not
http://www.reader.us/lawrence-wittner-does-war-have-a-future/
Willful Blindness with Margaret Heffernan
Do we refuse to see what's under our nose?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn5JRgz3W0o
The Lie We Live, an 8 1/2 minute view of the human story today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipe6CMvW0Dg&feature=youtu.be
I'm not a conservative ... and neither are you. Most of us live in the middle.
By former news anchor John Beard
http://johnbeard.com/conservative.html
Are conspiracy theories valid?
See this analysis by University of South Florida Public Policy Professor Lance deHaven-Smith:
http://dehaven-smith.com/faq/default.html
The impossible odds of so many major terror attacks occurring
http://www.wanttoknow.info/g/impossible-odds-mass-murders-terrorism
Employment information: What is it like to work for the CIA if you have a conscience? 4 1/2 min video,
and be sure to read the "Show More" info at the bottom of the description
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYJQ-uWK-hE
Government surveillance? What did a brave young man learn about it?
36 minute TED talk by Edward Snowden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwAodrjZMY
"We cannot throw away all of our rights... because we are afraid of rare instances of criminal activity." --Edward Snowden
Have you long thought that the schooling you had before college was far from what it should have been?
How Schools Set Kids Up to Fail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWBoA3Hpn8A"Children know that schooling is not fair, not honest, not driven by integrity. They know they are devalued in classes and grades, that the institution is indifferent to them as individuals. The rhetoric of caring contradicts what school procedure and content say, that many children have no tolerable future and most have a sharply proscribed one. The problem is structural. School has been built to serve a society of associations: corporations, institutions, and agencies. Kids know this instinctively. How should they feel about it? How should we?"
Schools in Finland far surpass U.S. schools. What's their secret? No homework.
Short video from Michael Moore's "Where to Invade Next:"
https://www.facebook.com/londonplay.charity/videos/vb.108624172584224/956499087796724/?type=2&theater
Going into science? Academic science has been corrupted and falsified, says Virginia Tech scientist
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/03/professor-who-exposed-flint-crisis-says-greed-has-killed-public-science
Too Smart? Want to Lower Your IQ? Smoke Pot
http://www.sott.net/article/158376-Heavy-marijuana-use-can-shrink-brain-studyFew people are aware of the unsavory history of the AMA and its Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This influential organization and its leaders became wealthy and powerful in the first half of the 20th century through selectively granting a seal of approval for untested drugs only to companies who would pay hefty fees to the AMA, and through major income from the tobacco industry for //JAMA//'s promotions of cigarette smoking and its false claims about cigarette safety. For a brief essay describing these corrupt practices and more, click here.
John Lennon on peace - about 7 mins
For pointed comments on what the average person can do, view from 5:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kw52mG1EzU&t=56
Were You Raised by a Narcissist? Many of us were. This can be a huge cause of stress.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/6-ways-to-know-you-were-raised-by-narcissists_5616b091e4b0082030a18f72?utm_hp_ref=healthy-livingSome sources of alternative news and views
Try the below for learning the realities behind what is reported in mass media.Note that the instructor does not endorse any of the below as being fully true and accurate --
you must make up your own mind.
http:www.activistpost.com (general news; under its Resources tab, includes valuable sources of alternative news)
http://www.wanttoknow.info (amazing comprehensive website providing verifiable truth behind coverups as well as stress reduction resources and tactics for righting the wrongs)
http://www.RT.com Russia TV; comprehensive news channel from Russian perspective; has New York bureau covering US news
http:www.sott.net ("SOTT" stands for Signs of the Times) - general. "Revealing the global trends that the mainstream media won't touch."
http://www.veteranstoday.com (selected by and for former military personnel)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info (general, "for global justice," daily updates)
http://theantimedia,org (general, continuous exposes of current coerups)
http://consortiumnews.org (general, from professional journalists)
http://www.counterpunch.org (general, compilation, features Noam Chomsky)
http://www.globalresearch.ca (general, comprehensive Canadian source, in-depth commentary on issues that are distorted by mass media)
htttp:www.ajplus.net (paste into browser if won't click through):
"AJ+ is a global news community for the connected generation. We highlight human struggles and achievements, empower impassioned voices, and challenge the status quo."
http://www.truthdig.org (general, compilation)
http://www.brasschecktv.com (videos; sign up for their email list to receive 1-2 relevant videos a week)
http://www.truthbarrier.com (medical specialty)
http://www.commondreams.org (general, partly reliable; compilation from various sources)
Compilations by individual journalists:
http://www.gregpalast.com (general ongoing stories by veteran investigative reporter)
http://www.unz.com (general, compilation)
http://www.russbaker.com (general; Bush family expose)
http://www.jonwiener.com (general)
http://www.sharylattkisson.com (conservative, general; vaccines)
http://www.resilience.org (general; from the Post-Carbon Institute)
http://www.tomdispatch.com (general)
--Russia Today (RT) on some cable TV sources and on the web: - streaming video. Has New York studio.
A type of employment in America to avoid:
From "The Good Lie" with Reese Witherspoon -A young American woman introduces the "boss system" to a young man from the Sudan:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=MZoGjAtCIAI
"Let me explain something to you. In America, we have this thing called bosses, and they have too much power for their teeny tiny brains, but you have to put up with it, because you need money to live and to eat and to go to school."
Can you get a job at a company without bosses? Check this out:
http://www.holacracy.org/how-it-works/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/12/01/tony-hsieh-got-rid-of-bosses-at-zappos-and-thats-not-even-his-biggest-idea/
Many companies adopting no-boss management:
http://structureprocess.com/holacracy-cases/
More to come.
Note: No Discussion feature on this site.